ISLAMABAD - Anees Javed unbeaten ton helped Islamabad lift NBP Twenty20 Blind Trophy 2014 as they outclassed Peshawar by eight wickets in the final here at Shalimar Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
A total of 12 teams took part in the mega event, played at Abbottabad and Islamabad. A total of 33 matches were played during the event. Put into bat first, Peshawar posted a massive total of 239-7 in 20 overs. Veteran Masood Jan played an outstanding knock of unbeaten 124 runs. Anees Javed and Zeeshan Abassi got a wicket apiece. Islamabad, in reply, reached the target with eight balls to spare. Anees Javed slammed unbeaten 119 while Jawad added 36.
Anees Javed was named as the player of the final while M Waqas was adjudged as man of the series in B1 category, Yasir Andleeb in B2 and Anees Javed in B3 category. Zeeshan Gul was declared the best wicketkeeper of the tournament.
World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC) president and PBCC chairman Syed Sultan Shah requested chief guest Pervaiz Rashid, Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, to construct a cricket stadium and hostel for the PBCC.
The chief guest lauded the performance of Pakistan blind cricket team and promised government would facilitate the PBCC in best possible way. “Being an advocate of blind cricket, I will take up the matter of constructing stadium and hostel with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and also request to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and urged them to work on this noble cause as soon as possible.”
Pervaiz Rashid also promised to take up departmental cricket issue with PCB chairman Najam Sethi. He lauded the role of departments in promoting cricket and helping players with different incentives. “Departments are playing a key role as far as helping and sharing burden of the government is concerned. They provide jobs to players and also taking care of them so they cannot be stopped from doing great job,” he concluded.